Along with iWork 09, Apple introduced the much rumoured iWork.com, an online extension to the desktop office suite. At first I was really excited to find Apple had finally managed to convert iWork into a web office suite and was already cooking up dreams of it integrating with iDisk and other such fanboy fantasies.
When I did come to learn the realities of the situation though, I was brought down to earth. iWork.com merely presents your work online. There is absolutely no editing that can be done via the online interface. The only editing that can be done, is adding comments.
Well that’s all for the bad stuff. After using the online extension for a while, I understood its true purpose. iWork.com excels at what it’s meant to do.
What is iWork meant to do?
iWork.com is meant to send people a draft or final copy of a document. If you want to send a client, publisher, friend a document, instead of attaching it in an email, you merely invite them to view the document online! The clean user interface of iWork.com lends to viewing documents, so you don’t have any distractions. The formatting is preserved to the T, with colour, graphics and fonts all embedded in the document (I assume one needs a capable browser for this). The receiving end can then add notes, or download a copy for himself. Besides, if you send the document to multiple parties, those who come in late can already see what feedback has been added.
How it all works
For the purpose of explaining it to those who don’t know what iWork is all about, here’s how it works. I created a document in Pages 09, and hit the iWork.com button in the toolbar. I then entered my MobileMe ID (or iTunes account or AppleID) which is a one time only thing. The next screen let me enter in email IDs I want to send this document to.
Email IDs are auto completed just like they are in Mail, after which you add in a comment and can even change which of your email IDs (setup in Mail) you want to send this invite from. Pages will then upload the document online (very speedy) and send your contacts a fancy email with a link to view the document. You on the other hand get a link for yourself, which requires you to reenter your user ID and password in the browser. The viewers on the other hand view the document without any password.
On iWork.com, you get to view a list of your uploaded documents, as well as view the number of people and comments for each. The viewers on the other hand only get to view the document that was emailed to them, and add comments and notes to the document, as well as download the document in PDF, iWork, or Microsoft Office file formats. Every viewer can see the same comments.
Why iWork.com will work
I’ve always marveled at how Apple thinks outside the grid and brings in something what no one expects (case to point: the buttonless trackpad). People don’t want to edit files on the web, not with what the web currently has to offer. The cloud has yet to mature enough to be able to provide a rich environment for doing complex tasks. I know so many people who still insist on using Microsoft Word on the desktop instead of using Google Docs in the browser.
What Apple has done is provide an online extension, while keeping the editing features on the desktop. They’ve also made sure that PC users don’t get left out by adding an option to download it as an MS Office compatible file. The seamlessness by which this whole information is presented and transferred, makes it not only easy to use, but usable. I can actually imagine myself sending someone a document with a single click, and expecting no problems in intercepting it on the other end.
Will iWork.com get editing features in the future? Surely. But till Apple figures out a way to make online editing actually usable, I’ll be happy to use iWork.com.
